Execution: (The Akeldama Chronicles)

by F. N. Hammack

  The depth of anger in his words took me by surprise.

  “Were you—”

  The door burst open and Rhys stormed in. “I have great news.”

  He walked across the room towards my desk and then without asking went behind it, sat in my chair and propped his muddy boots on top of my desk. As he leaned back and got comfortable, he shot me a look of pure challenge. Bastard.

  I clenched my fists and withheld my instinctive violent response.

  Though…I could have done without Aramis’s laughter.

  When minutes passed, and Rhys still hadn’t spoken his news, I gritted my teeth. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with his incessant pushing right now, not after reading those missives. “Well, are you going to share or are you just going to stare at me all day?”

  Rhys shrugged and crossed one leg over the other. “I was just wondering what she sees in you two. I’ve never understood that.”

  Understanding dawned and I felt like a fool for it to have taken me this long to catch on. This was why he had left the kingdom the day our engagement was announced. “You love her.”

  Rhys bared his teeth in a grin that could only be described as feral. “That was never a secret.”

  “No. You’re in love with her.”

  “Yes, and I have loved her far longer than you.”

  “Then why’d you step aside?” I would have never been able to step back and let someone else take my place. I had a newfound respect for Rhys. He was still a horse’s backend though.

  “She doesn’t see me the way I see her and—”

  Aramis butted in. “This heart to heart is nice and all, but let’s backtrack for a moment, shall we?” He pointed an accusing finger at Rhys. “You said, ‘sees”. Present tense. You also mentioned something about great news and frankly there’s only one thing that could possibly qualify as “great” news.” Aramis put his hands on the desk and leaned across until he was in Rhys’s face. “So, pray tell, what is this so-called great news?”

  My eyes widened, and my heart pounded as hope filled my chest. He couldn’t mean…

  Rhys grinned widely, “she’s alive.”

  Aramis froze.

  Xima’s breath, so did I.

  Every bit of rage and despair that had coiled around me these last two years evaporated, taking the weight that had been crippling me from my shoulders. I closed my eyes and sent thanks to the gods for looking out for her.

  Opening them, I glared at Rhys. “By Raga’s blood, why did you wait to tell us that?!”

  “Because you two dolts would have stormed off to rescue her and end up getting yourselves killed along the way.” He snapped. Then, he tilted his head and amended. “Well, you would get yourself killed. Aramis would have a greater chance of survival.”

  Insulted, I reared back.

  Before I could reply, Aramis turned around walked towards the door as if we didn’t even exist. I frowned. “Aramis?”

  “Stop him.” Rhys ordered.

  I snarled. “I don’t talk orders from you, assassin!”

  “Careful.” Rhys murmured with a smile as he pulled a blade from one of his pockets. Flipping it in his hand, he smiled. “My family haven’t been assassins for a while now; but for you, I’d be willing to remedy that.” He winked and then in a blur of movement, threw the weapon.

  It slammed into the door that Aramis had just opened; forcing it closed.

  Aramis’s hand curled into a fist at his side.

  Rhys either didn’t see it or didn’t care. If I were a gambling man, I’d lay bets on the latter. “You don’t even know where she is and you’re just going to storm out there in a tiff? With no plan? I had thought you cleverer than that, master thief.”

  “You came from the castle, which means that she’s either there or someplace in between.”

  “Yeah, but wouldn’t it be more efficient if you waited until you had all of the information before storming off in a rage?” Rhys drawled mockingly.

  Relaxing his tensed muscles slightly, Aramis turned and faced us. “I concede to your logic. Now tell me what I need to know.”

  “Gladly.”

  Rhys held up one finger. “First, go alone and you’ll die. The castle is swarming with twice as many mercenaries as usual. Plus, Prince Xing is there with his contingent of guards as well as over a dozen nobles and their protection details. Your face is known by all now that you’re one of Sienna’s consorts. Step one foot within the castle and you’ll be taken down.”

  Aramis scoffed. “You’re just as well-known as I.”

  “And the difference between us is that I grew up in that castle; I know it like the back of my hand and could traverse it blindfolded.”

  Aramis started to say something.

  Rhys held up another finger. “Secondly, Sienna is in poor health and wouldn’t be able to put up any kind of resistance never mind the physical dexterity required for sneaking through the tunnels and traveling through the forests for hours on end.”

  I scowled at that. How bad off was she? My mind started jumping to every horrible scenario that could have happen in the last two years and I had to force myself to stop lest I go mad.

  I shared a look with Aramis and knew he felt the same.

  Rhys held up a third finger. “Without a plan, the only outcome is defeat.” He lowered his feet to the floor and stood to his full height, which towered over even me. Bloody Giant. “I will not lose her because you two can’t think straight.”

  With a sudden and equally alarming smile, he sat back down and leaned forward to brace his elbows of the desk. “Now, let’s come up with a plan.”

  I waited until Aramis had stepped forward before I did the same. He was unpredictable in the best of times and now couldn’t qualify as the best of anything.

  Aramis narrowed his eyes on Rhys. “What do you propose?”

  A vicious grin stretched slowly across Rhys’s face. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  He pursed his lips and pondered something for a moment. “Tomorrow. We go tomorrow.”

  “Why tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Xing is here for a public execution, which means that the courtyard will be opened to the public—”

  Aramis interrupted Rhys’s explanation. “Whose?”

  “Seems the legendary King Killer has finally been captured and ironically… he’s Sienna’s cellmate.” Rhys shook his head.

  I worried over that a bit. Was she safe with him? Then, I remembered that she was in a gods-be-damned cell and figured the concern was moot. She would be home soon.

  However…

  “Xing is King Aya’s eldest son, no?”

  Rhys nodded.

  “Then, is he a—”

  Rhys shook his head. “Xing is no threat to Sienna.”

  “You sound confident of that.” Aramis stated, crossing his arms and leaning his hip against the edge of the desk. “What do you know that we don’t?”

  “A lot.”

  “Summarize it then.”

  “Fine. Xing and Sienna used to be betrothed.” Rhys said cheerfully; his eyes dancing between the two of us.

  I felt a rock land in my gut. She had been betrothed before? How had I not known this? Furthermore, Xing was at least ten years her elder, if not more. Had it been a political match?

  Aramis didn’t seem to have the same sense of shock that I did. “Betrothed isn’t the same as wedded. What happened?”

  “Xing fell in love with one of Masaari’s enslaved concubines. When Aya found out, he demanded that Masaari kill the woman and the baby in her belly. Fortunately, Aya had been hosting a ball at the time and Sienna and I were in attendance. We helped the woman evade the gallows and then Sienna sent her to the Nomadic Nation—”

  “West?!” Both Aramis and I shouted at the same time.

  Rhys rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes. Had she brought her to Akeldama, it would have meant a war. By sending her west, she secured the woman’s safety without bloodshed. It was bloody brilliant, es
pecially considering Sienna was only fourteen at the time.”

  I dragged a hand through my hair. Forget a closet full of skeletons, Sienna had a damned castle full. “What ties does Sienna have with the west? The people there are hardly welcoming to outsiders.”

  “Jezura.” Rhys said simply as if that answered everything.

  I closed my eyes and counted to ten.

  Aramis took over. “And Jezura is?”

  Rhys smiled cheekily. “A very, very powerful man.”

  Both Aramis and I glowered at him.

  Sighing, Rhys held up his hands. “Look. Sienna is royalty and royalty have secrets that have secrets. If you want to know them, you’ll have to ask her because in case you need to be reminded, I am loyal to her. Not you two. I could care less about you two.”

  “Fair enough.” Aramis nodded as if that made perfect sense and he wasn’t the slightest bit offended. I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why did I feel like the only decent and sane one among us?

  We needed to change the subject or else these two were going to give me a complex. I glanced around, searching and my eyes landed on the missives scattered about the floor.

  “We received news from the scouts that Aya, Masaari and Lyon’s Regent have sent an army to our borders.”

  Rhys’s face drained of blood so quickly that I worried he would pass out; but, he rallied quickly. “When are they due to arrive?”

  “A moon’s time.”

  Rhys exhaled in relief. “We have a chance then.”

  I frowned. “How so?”

  “Our allies…”

  I crossed my arms and scowled down at him. I didn’t appreciate the mocking way that he had said that. “Our allies? You mean the people who refused us aid against Cassius after the siege?”

  Rhys waved his hand dismissively and bent down to grab a sheet of spare parchment from the floor along with a quill and ink. “They were right to refuse us.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Politically speaking, Sienna was presumed dead. There was no evidence to the contrary. Cassius was the usurper and without a rightful heir to deny his claim to the throne, our allies had no right to interfere and if they had interfered without justification, then they would have been held in forfeit of the Treaty of Eirini. They would have lost their place in the United Empires and their lands would have been divided amongst the bordering kingdoms.” Rhys absently explained, while scribbling something on the piece of parchment.

  “The siege wasn’t justification enough?” I asked him incredulously.

  “No. Cassius played it smart. He might have terrorized the borders, but he never actually crossed into the land outside of Akeldama’s territory. Until he did something that directly impacted them, our allies could not aid us.” Aramis snorted and muttered under his breath.

  “But, they can help us now?”

  “Sienna is alive and as the true Akeldama heir, she is the rightful ruler and regardless of the crown Cassius wears upon his head, Sienna is the Queen and as such, our allies are bound by their blood oaths to the Akeldama line, which supersede the Treaty of Eirini.” Rhys finished writing and glanced up, meeting my eyes. “It’s a game of politics.”

  “It’s bloody ridiculous!” I snarled.

  Rhys shrugged.

  Aramis spoke up. “We need to focus on what we’re going to do tomorrow. Honestly, I don’t care if the world burns to the ground between now and then. We can focus on protecting the kingdom after we have Sienna back.”

  Rhys laughed. “I feel the same, which is why I wrote this down while I was giving my little political lesson.” He tore the parchment in three equal parts, keeping one and handing us the others.

  Curious, I perused the paper and then stared at him. “This is insane!”

  Aramis bust out laughing and it was the first time in two years that it sounded like a genuine laugh rather than a sadistic and mocking one. “It just might work. I’m in.”

  Rhys shared an anticipatory smirk with Aramis. “If we all play our parts right and things go according to plan, we will have her back with us by nightfall tomorrow.

  Chapter Six

  MAD’OUK

  (adj.) experience or toughened by life

  Joaquin Gagnon

  The distant bang of the iron cast doors echoed through the halls of the dungeon, successfully waking me.

  One moment I had been lost in the most beautiful mint, green eyes that I had ever seen as Sienna and I jumped from memory to memory and the next, I was forced back into my body. The abruptness of it left me a bit dazed.

  Before whatever weird mojo had kidnapped me into her subconscious or…what I assume to be her subconscious…I had already felt a connection to her; but after seeing dozens upon dozens of her memories, what I felt now was more akin to obsession.

  As I became more aware of my surroundings, I felt the weight of her body leaning against mine. And the unnatural warmth…

  With a frown, I brushed her hair away from her forehead and felt her temperature even though I could tell from the sweat that covered my body where it touched hers that she was far too hot. It was simply one of those things that one did. If you thought someone was ill, you felt their brow. It was instinctive.

  The small fire upon the torch had died at some point in the night, leaving us in absolute darkness. I couldn’t look at her complexion to see how pale she must be. I couldn’t look at her wound to see how bad it was.

  But, I could use my other senses.

  I felt the multitude of chill bumps along her flesh.

  I heard the rapid and wheezy breaths that came too far apart for my liking.

  I tasted the dampness in the air and knew that it only worsened her condition.

  I also heard the thundering footsteps that grew louder and louder the closer they got.

  They were coming for me.

  There was nothing I could do about that. Just as there was nothing I could do to heal her.

  Soon, I would die… and so would she.

  By different methods sure… but that hardly mattered when the end result was the same.

  I went to stroke my fingers through her hair but stopped because I knew that the sheer amount of tangles would only make such an action uncomfortable, if not painful, and I wished to cause her no additional harm.

  Instead, I ran my hand gently up and down her arm and hummed the lullaby that my mother used to sing to me when I was younger and afraid of monsters.

  In my mind, I prayed to the gods for the first time in ages. I prayed that in my next life, I would see this beautiful girl again and that things would be different. That we would have the chance to be together because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would be great together.

  As the sound of my lullaby reached her — at least, I hoped it reached her — Sienna cuddled closer. The heat of her fever was uncomfortable as was the sweat — and neither one of us smelled particularly pleasant — but I would be damned if I let her go a moment before I had to.

  The footsteps got closer.

  I hugged her to my chest and paused my song long enough to whisper into her ear. “I will see you in the next life, Princess.”

  The footsteps paused and the door to our cell swung open. The sudden torch light piercing the darkness burned my eyes, but I didn’t dare look away from Sienna’s face. It was the last time that I would see her, and I wanted to etch her likeness into my mind so that when the executioner swung his blade, I would see only her.

  “Come.” One of the guards commanded harshly as he moved forward to undo the set of chains that bound me to the wall. The other two guards with him were simply the muscles used in an attempt to intimidate me. I was somewhat insulted.

  Nonetheless, I nodded my head in response.

  Then, I laid a whisper of a kiss upon her brow and lowered her gently down to the ground before rising to my feet so that the guard could do what he needed.

  Afterwards, he grabbed the remainder of my chains and used them to pull me from t
he room and out of the dungeon.

  As we walked, I let my mind wander.